Attorneys Representing Dog Attack Victims Across Texas

This website is maintained by the Law Offices of Dean Malone, P.C., a Dallas, Texas law firm representing people across Texas for dog bite injury cases. We have attempted to provide useful information for those harmed by animal attacks.

Posts Tagged ‘Criminal charge’

Friday, December 15th, 2017

Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

On April 19, 2017, 40-year-old Charlton Cash Chrisman died after being incarcerated at Oklahoma County Jail for a day. The alleged cause of death was acute methamphetamine intoxication leading to agitated delirium. The autopsy also says that a contributing factor to Chrisman’s death was multiple hits from pepper balls. The pepper balls were allegedly fired by detention officers. On Thursday, December 14, 2017, two former jailers at the Oklahoma County Jail were criminally charged with felony assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

Immediately after the incident involving Chrisman, the two jailers were assigned to duties that involved no contact with prisoners. One of the officers resigned on August 8. The other was fired on Thursday, after the criminal charges were filed against him.

Before Chrisman died, there had been two altercations inside the jail with jailers. In the first, Chrisman tore the sprinkler head off of his cell. The two detention officers who have now been charged with a crime were part of a special reaction team. As soon as the door to Chrisman’s cell was opened, they allegedly began firing pepper ball guns at him, according to the testimony of a special agent with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.

In interviews, the two officers allegedly admitted to shooting Chrisman with pepper balls as the door opened. One of the officers also allegedly confessed to shooting the prisoner at close range as other jailers were trying to physically restrain him, which was the second altercation.

Chrisman was transported to a nearby hospital, where he died. The autopsy report showed that he had up to 16 circular contusions on his body, which were consistent with injuries caused by a pepper ball gun. In addition, he allegedly had multiple contusions and abrasions on his arms, back, legs, cheeks, nose, and forehead.

As with every post on this website, we are only providing information in this post and do not make any allegation or assertion that anyone acted inappropriately or engaged in misconduct.

Thursday, December 7th, 2017

On Tuesday, December 5, 2017, five jailers with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office were indicted in connection with an alleged beating of a prisoner at Harris County Jail in Houston, Texas, which occurred in September 2016. The prisoner, Jerome Bartee, required facial reconstruction after the incident. To reconstruct his face, a plate, stitches, and screws were needed. He also suffered a shattered eye socket, according to a news release from the office of Kim Ogg, Harris County District Attorney. A surveillance video at the jail captured the entire alleged beating, although one of the officers attempted to turn the video camera off at one point. Four detention officers have been charged with aggravated assault by a public servant. The fifth detention officer was indicted for misdemeanor assault. Warrants for the arrest of all five jailers were issued. The men were suspended several days after the incident, following an internal affairs investigation.

According to court filings, Bartee told employees at the jail that he was suffering from a severe toothache, and he requested medical attention. A detention officer escorted him to the clinic and allegedly shoved him into a door in the clinic hallway, and the action was unprovoked. Several other detention officers also went to the scene and allegedly physically assaulted Bartee. They allegedly threw him into a podium and into a chair. They also allegedly beat and stomped him until he was nearly unconscious. Employees at the jail took Bartee to Ben Taub Hospital, but he was returned to the general population at Harris County Jail later that day, with bruises and sutures.

As with every post on this website, we are only providing information in this post and do not make any allegation or assertion that anyone acted inappropriately or engaged in misconduct.

Monday, May 15th, 2017

English: The Waller County Courthouse located at 29.5816° -95.7617°, Hempstead, Texas, United States. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

On Thursday, May 11, 2017, the Sandra Bland Act was unanimously passed by Texas Senators. The bill addresses criminal justice reform issues related to the death of Sandra Bland, who was found dead, hanging in a Waller County, Texas, jail cell three days after an arrest resulting from a routine traffic stop. An investigation was done, and her death was declared a suicide. The bill is 55 pages long and details numerous reforms. The bill was composed by Democrat Representative Garnet Coleman of Houston, and the companion bill was filed in the senate by Democrat Senator John Whitmire of Houston. According to Whitmire, in 2015, 26 people died by apparent suicide in Texas county jails. Some reforms were put into place, and the number fell to 16 in 2016. Not enough is being done, Whitmire said.

Coleman said the big impact of this bill is that it can provide encouragement to continue trying to make meaningful change.

Law enforcement officers and jailers will be required to have more training in mental illness, if this bill also passes in the House and is ultimately signed by Governor Abbott, to become law. More about the bill follows:

It makes room for counties to provide programs so that mentally ill individuals and the homeless will have facilities instead of jails to go to.

It mandates that people with substance abuse and mental health issues be diverted by county jails toward treatment.

The bill makes it easier for defendants with an intellectual disability or with mental illness to receive a personal bond.

The bill requires that all jail deaths be investigated by independent law enforcement agencies.

Crucial sections of the bill have been removed, which Coleman expressed his disappointment about. Consent searches and pre-text stops were removed from the version of the bill that passed the Senate. He says other bill are specifically addressing those issues, however.

In this continuing series, learn about sections of the bill that were removed and the response from members of Bland’s family.